Customer Reviews

From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Published in 1984 and still in print! Many of us knew from first reading that this book was destined to be a classic. The work provides two valuable contributions. Actual patient care experiences reported by 1200 respected nurses were described and analyzed. What nurses actually do is presented in clear discussion using commonly understood language. The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisistion is then applied to this analysis of expert nursing practice. This view into the "mystery"of nursing contributes to understanding and appreciation of the unique role of this essential healthcare discipline. It is likely to be valuable to physicians, administrators and others whose work is interdependent with that of nurses as well as speaking directly to nurses. Understanding a skill acquisition process as it applies to the profession of nursing has direct relevancy both for basic educational preparation and for practice models and work assignments. Many applications, articles and books have and continue to grow from this original work. However, I still find repeated reasons to return to this primary source and the book continues to hold a special place on my desk top.

I'm surprised that there are not more reviews of this classic. From Novice to Expert is now THE model used to describe development in nursing and is the basis for probably 99% of all the clinical ladders in existence. Benner deserves our undying gratitude for finding a way to describe what it is that nurses really DO. Her following books based on this one are also excellent. In the late '80s and '90s she used her model to describe critical care nursing, and is now using her model to describe expert nursing practice in long term care. In graduate school, so many of the models I was required to learn had nothing to do with actual nursing practice--because they were created by PhD nurse educators who had not practiced for years or decades. For her work, Benner went to bedside nurses actually doing nursing, and built her model upon what she discovered there and from them. As a clinical nurse specialist, I use this model everyday when working with other nurses and with patients.

This book should be required reading for all nurses in all nursing programs. It is an unspoken nursing student idea that when you graduate from your nursing program that you should, "know it all." This is unrealistic for the new/novice nurse. This book explains the process and gives comfort the the new nurse that expecting you to "know it all" is unreasonable and is not an expectation of the profession.

Patricia Benner started taking a common-sense approach to nursing research, when everyone else was out there in the clouds. She actually did something no one else was doing at the time- she asked nurses what they thought, and observed real working nurses to describe her learning model. She aptly describes how nurses learn at the bedside, and why they make the decisions they do, based on what stage of learning they're in. I recommend this book for new and experienced nurses, preceptors, and nurse educators. A must-read for anyone in the profession.

Timeless since it was published 25 years ago, Benner's book offers a realistic and thoughtful model of nursing practice which addresses many challenges that are just as pertinent today. The exemplars are classic illustrations of what makes nursing so important yet difficult to define, and most importantly that the differences in nursing practice are placed in the context of experience- which offers nursing leaders important insight into our own strategies. A "must-have"resource for managers and an "I wish I knew these things when I started" textbook for the classroom. Has a permanent place on the night stand.

Based on all the fantastic reviews, I thought this book would be a great read and particularly helpful before starting nursing school. It read more like a dissertation and would probably be more useful to clinical nursing instructors or veteran nurses nurses who are unable to articulate their knowledge to nursing students. So glad this is NOT required reading at my school as a previous reviewers have suggested. It was dry and I couldn't bring myself to read more than five pages at a time.

this book is excellent for any nurse who wants to understand Patricia Benner's theory on how we learn and develop our skills as nurses caring for others needs moving from the task oriented to seeing the big picture of care.

Yes, it's about nursing. But so much of it applies to any skilled field, and even the parts that don't are understandable, because the book is very concrete. It has interviews with clinical nurses throughout and when you read it, you will understand how it talks about learning, and you will have a hard time not applying it to whatever you do.

The concept of novice to expert is applicable to today's nursing practice for both the bedside nurse and the nurse manager. I was able to apply this concept to a mentoring program for both new and experienced nurse managers.

This is an excellent book. It is a perfect example of how very different specialties and professions can apply similar methods and theory for discovering phenomenae for that profession. Excellent choice. I highly recommend this book.